Cell phone ban a possibility

Lawmakers aim to prohibit use while driving

It could be. Some lawmakers think as soon as the next legislative session Texas will join the small but growing number of states that prohibit the use of wireless devices for people behind the wheel.

"I am hopeful that my colleagues will understand that this a serious issue that needs immediate attention because a lot of drivers now use cell phones as if they were computers and are getting too distracted," said Rep. Jose Menendez, co-author of House Bill 55, the legislation that as of Tuesday will ban the use of wireless devices while driving in a school zone.

The San Antonio Democrat and other legislators who support such proposals base their optimism on a recent report that in 2003 the federal government withheld a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study showing how dangerous it is talking or texting while driving.

The director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the agency was urged to withhold the research to avoid antagonizing members of Congress who had warned the agency to stick to its mission of gathering safety data but not to lobby states, The New York Times reported last month.

The study of 10,000 drivers found that motorists using a hand-held device had a 1.3 times greater risk of a crash or a near crash and three times the risk when dialing compared with drivers paying attention to the road.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study, conducted over an 18-month period, also found that when commercial truck drivers text, their collision risk is 23 times greater than when not texting.

In addition, a study the Center for Risk Studies at Harvard University conducted last year showed that 6 percent of motor vehicle accidents are caused by people driving while using a wireless phone. That is the equivalent of 2,600 deaths and 12,000 injuries a year.

The Harvard study explains why the National Safety Council, which was chartered by Congress, is recommending states ban cell phones while driving.

"There is already too much evidence which shows that using a cell phone while driving, whether talking or texting, puts people at a great risk of getting involved in a major accident," Menendez said.

The House Transportation Committee is planning to take an in-depth look at the issue before the Legislature convenes again in early 2011, said Chairman Joe Pickett, D-El Paso.

"We will hold hearings during the interim, and we'll hear some specific details," Pickett said.

"Everybody agrees that there is sufficient data showing that this is a very important safety issue and we need to take a good look at it before some members start working on the bills they will introduce in the next session."

However, the passage of the proposed legislation is far from certain, even if it gets to the House and Senate floors for a debate and a vote.

Conservative lawmakers such as Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, said before the session ended that the government is already too involved in people's lives, and a cell phone ban would be one more example.

"The people I represent are not stupid, they are smart enough to take care of themselves," Swinford said. "Trust the people."